Crunch-A-Licious Almonds and a Food Gal Giveaway

I love to eat them by the handful, of course. But I also love to bake with almond flour, smear almond butter on toast, dig into spoonfuls of almond jello at Chinese restaurants, and nosh on any cookie made with sweet almond paste.

So, when Santé Nuts, a family-owned company in Santa Clara, recently sent me samples of its Garlic Almonds and Chipotle Almonds to try, I was practically delirious. The nuts themselves taste so incredibly fresh. You’ll notice that difference right off the bat. There’s a real crunch to them. The garlic ones are just garlicky enough so you still get the natural almond flavor, too. The chipotle ones have a slow smoky burn that’s never overpowering, either.

Company founder Sara Tidhar roasts the nuts the way her grandmother taught her. Tidhar used to make them for friends and family as gifts. But when she found herself divorced and a single mom, she decided to take a leap of faith to create a business around her grandmother’s tradition.

Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST Feb. 16 (Father’s Day). Winner will be announced on Feb. 19.

How to win?

Tell me a fun, nutty food-related story about your Dad. Best answer wins.

Here’s my own:

“Years ago, when my parents were still alive, my husband and I dropped by their house with a surprise — a freshly baked, streusel-topped apple pie that we’d picked up at a Japanese bakery-market. Now, admittedly, I did inherit my sweet tooth from my Dad. So, maybe what happened next was not that surprising then. When we dropped by with the pie, it was probably close to 5 p.m. Dinner, of course, was only a short spell away. But did that deter my father? Of course not. He immediately cut himself a big slab and tore into it with utmost content. Pie before dinner? If I had dared to do that as a kid, he probably would have scolded me for it. But now that I was an adult, apparently it no longer mattered when pie was enjoyed. I still chuckle at that.”

Winner of the Anderson Seafoods Contest

Monday, I asked you to tell me what seafood you’d most like to treat your Dad to on Father’s Day — and why. Winner will receive $300 worth of seafood of your choice from Anderson Seafoods.

Congrats to:

Holly Wert, who wrote, “The ‘Dad’ in my life would be my wonderful husband. He loves going fishing and used to do it almost daily…until we got married and had 3 children. I’d love to win this and serve up some trout on Father’s Day. Maybe he doesn’t have the time now to go out and catch his own but he still deserves to have his favorite meal!”

5 comments

my stepfather is the biggest cheesecake lover i’ve ever known. this isn’t so much a story as an interesting technique: when i make him a cheesecake for his birthday or father’s day or what-have-you, he immediately eats a huge piece. each serving after that is smaller than the last until he’s finally eating the very last sliver. talk about pacing oneself.

My dad and I love Black Forest cake. This one time, we brought one to my Grandma’s. We were both looking forward to having a nice slice of it, but being that it was time for lunch we placed it in the refrigerator. My Grandma is a great cook, so we had an awesome meal as always. After lunch, my dad asked me to get the cake out of the fridge. We grabbed the knife and open the box. What happened next, I’ll never forget! There it was, Black Forest cake in all it’s glory…sans all the maraschino cherries! My dad and I looked at each other and we both had this look of “What the heck?” Everyone was silent for a second, trying to wrap our head around what is happening. That’s when my grandma burst out laughing. Turns out she grabbed all the cherries to set aside to decorate her almond, fruit cocktail jelly dessert. Too funny! Oh, and my Dad and I enjoyed our slices just the same—especially knowing that later there’s also Almond Jelly dessert…topped with our Black Forest cherries!

My mom and dad were nut lovers so I think I get that from them. Almonds are my favorite but my dad really liked fresh peanuts He loved getting the fresh roasted peanuts in large bags where he could enjoy them for days. He loved sharing them with everybody also.